The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1887-09-24

Lndl tldl lliuSlC W put lOIOu utW tueISy
and keep its regular step. But soon
canes and crutches came, the eyes grew
dim, the step faltered, and the vast
multitudes, witnessing from year to
year the decline, felt, with unutterable
sadness, that the old defenders were
passing away. So, to-day we have but
two or three left, whose tottering forms
refuse to march, and never again shall
we see the Old-time march around the
monument. Even so, the old soldiers
of the Revolution passed away. Even
so, the soldiers who wore the gray, and
the soldiers who wore the blue, in our
utterly sad and terrible civil war, will
pass on.
But that which of heroism and patri-
otism survives in character is immortal,
and is ever knocking at the doors of our
hearts. Shall we open the doors to the
knocking? ? Shall we listen to the whis-
pering of the spirit of the heroic and
patriotic deeds of our dead heroes
From the bloody fields of the Revolu-
tion, whereon men died that liberty
might have birth in this land, the whis-
pers come. From Bunker Hill to York
town they gather strength and volume;
and from the battlefelds of 1872, and
from the blood-stained waves of naval
conflicts, and from its dead old defend
ers, come the knocking and the whis-
pers. Shall we open our hearts and
listen to these whispers ? The Union
will stand, and liberty remain unmoved
upon her throne, if we do this Tever-
emily and gladly.
Over us to-day proudly floats the
'Star Spangled Banner" richer in its
glorious history, and richer in its mean
ings, and in its promises for the future
of the human race than any other flag
on the face of the earth. The vital
force of the blood Of martyrs is in that
flag. In some sense, the signers of the
Declaration of Independence are there;
Washington and his generals are there;
the rank and file of the grand armies of
the Revolution are there the heroes
of the War of 1S12-14 are there sixty
millions of people are there. Besides
these, the great spirit of the Declara-
tion of Independence is there: "All
men are created equal, and are endowed
by their Creator with certain inaliena-
bic rights, among them life, liberty and
the pursuit of happiness" Aswe gaze
upon it the noblest thoughts are in
spired. We rise higher and to nobler
manhood, for our flag means even more
than this to an American. Wherever
it floats, on sea or on land, at the cap
itals and in the harbOrs of foreign cOun-
tries, it is liberty's great missionary.
1t declares universal facts. Every
where-all over the >rld-all men are
created equal equal in the right to life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
1t aflirms a universal principle: Just
governments derive their powers from
the consent of the governed 1t fills
our souls with a true national pride
when we think that everywhere our
flag is respected, that the proudest mon
archy fears to insult it, that the proud
est empires do it honor. Whilst, as
side by side with the flags of all nation
alities it gracefully floats upon the
breeze, it means that all just govern
ments shall derive their rights by the
consent of the governed, and teaches
political doctrines which are surely des-
tined 10 undermine the throne of every
king on the earth, and to overthrow all
aristOcracies beneath whose arrogant
power the oppressed millions of the
world are now suffering. 1t rejOices
every true American heart to reflect
upon the mighty revolutions these po-
litical doctrines for which our flag stands
are producing on the earth. Yankee
Doodle" is in it, and all the thunderbOlts
of united empires cannot destroy it.
While every American should love
his countTy's flag for what it means at
home, he should love it for what it
means abroad, for its universal mean
ing, for the hope it is carrying to all the
people of the earth. No American lyric
in honor of the flag is comparable to
Francis Scott Keys "Star. Spangled
Banner And the poet who mas i'm
mortalized his name by that lyric was a
Marylander. lie wrote it amid the
thunderOf cannon incur own harbor. He
peeTtd through the smoke and the dim
dawn Of the morning to see if the flag
still waved. Millions upon millions have
sung the soul-inspiring words. 1t has
thrilled through vast assemblies and
quickened the lOftiest sentiments of
patriotism. And we sing it to-day, and
it will never, can never, die. 1t should
be pleasure for the citizens of Balti-
more to rear fitting monument in
memory of one of its most famous cit
liens, who, touched by the power of
the divine, wrote the glorious lyric.
San Francisco boasts of monument to
the poet, but here, where a monument
should have been built years ago, there
is as yet but an humble effort to raise
the funds. Let the response be general